Pro forma letter to Barry O'Farrell, MP

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RE: COMPULSORY FEES FOR PRESCHOOLS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Dear Premier

Federation members at ___________________________________________ school met and carried the following:

“Federation members at this school declare their opposition to the State Government’s imposition of fees on the families of children attending the 100 Department of Education and Communities (DEC) preschools that form part of local infants, primary and central schools.

We reaffirm our commitment to the public school values of fairness and inclusivity and, as such, maintain the belief that public education must be free and accessible to all.

The 100 DEC preschools were established to improve the educational opportunities for students in low socio economic areas. Many of these public school communities are also isolated and/or serve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Language Background Other Than English families.

On behalf of the State Government, the Department has issued a schedule of fees to schools based on a crude use of their Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA). While the government has defended its policy by announcing the provision of exemptions and reduced fees, it has not acknowledged that the notion a fee structure is both divisive and, in many disadvantaged communities, enough to discourage parents from enrolling their child in a DEC preschool.

A comparison with other states and territories shows that NSW falls well short in providing adequate preschool education. Indeed, the NSW Minister for Education, Mr Adrian Piccoli, acknowledged this in a media release prepared by him. In it he stated:

“we lag behind other States and Territories in both participation rates and affordability”. (August, 2011)

Imposing fees will worsen this situation.

In Western Australia and the ACT more than 90% of students attend free public preschools. If the NSW Government adopted the same approach we would see a significant increase in participation of students and improvement in their learning outcomes.

We reject the imposition of compulsory fees on the families of children enrolling in DEC preschools and call on the State Government to withdraw this damaging policy. Furthermore, recognising the significance of preschool education in the early development of children, we also call on the State Government to allocate more funding to establish additional preschools in public schools across NSW.”

Yours sincerely

Federation Representative